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Leadership Leadership is one of the core abilities that a good manager should possess. In any group of children or adults, there are those who step forward to organize people and events to achieve a specific result. In organized activities, leaders can be designated and, in informal contexts, such as childrens playgroups, they may emerge naturally. What makes certain people into leaders is open to debate. Thus Luella Cole and Irma Nelson Hall have written that leadership seems to consist of a cluster of traits, a few inborn but most of them acquired or at least developed by contact with the environment. Leaders have their own leadership style, and that style may not transfer from one situation to another.
Psychologists have also defined leadership as a mentality, as opposed to aptitude, the assumption being that mentalities can be acquired. For example, as John E. Anderson has observed, parents often play a crucial role in fostering a leadership mentality in their children. According to Anderson, when strength of mind and independent thinking are encouraged, children dont succumb to peer pressure; they follow their own beliefs. While defining leadership mentality in general terms, Anderson recognizes that childrens leadership behavior will depend on their interests; therefore, he advises sensitivity toward the childs chosen area of leadership: for example, a leader of a discussion group may be uncomfortable playing games. In a 1993 research review, Ron Maynard underscored the importance of a child's ability to use his or her characteristic leadership style.
Researchers have identified two distinct types of leaders: idea generators and social facilitators. They function equally in the preschool years, but the two groups later separate. The facilitators gain ascendance in elementary school and are eclipsed by the idea generators in early adolescence. The groups do not necessarily have to compete, however. For example, an introverted idea generator can learn the fundamental skills needed for successful social interaction, thereby safeguarding his or her feelings of self-worth without the compulsion to compete with the facilitator.
Child psychologists who study girls, and particularly educators and parents advocating equal-opportunity education for girls, have remarked that girls with leadership potential often have to struggle with various prejudices, which also include the notion that leadership is a male characteristic. In a study of 304 fourth-, fifth-, and six-graders enrolled in 16 Girl Scout troops, Cynthia A. Edwards found that in an all-female group, leaders consistently display characteristic qualities such as organizational skills and independent thinking. Significantly, election to leadership posts was based on perceived managerial skills, while feminine qualities, such as empathic behavior, were generally not taken into account. However, in examining the research on mixed (male-female) groups, Edwards has found studies that show that the presence of male group members, even in the minority, suppresses the verbal expression and leadership behavior of female group members. The fact that leadership behavior can be suppressed would seem to strengthen the argument that leadership is, indeed, a learned behavior.
A study by T. Sharpe, M. Brown, and K. Crider measured the effects of consistent positive reinforcement, favoring skills such as leadership, sportsmanship, and conflict resolution, on two urban elementary physical education classes.
The researchers found that the focus on positive skills caused a significant increase in leadership and conflict-resolution behavior. These results seem to support the idea, discussed by Maynard, that leadership behavior can be non-competitive (different individuals exercising leadership in different areas) and also conducive to group cohesion, as children developing their strengths learn to replace conflict with collaborative behavior. Although leaders display qualities they are born with, most leadership behaviors are learned. Parents and teachers can encourage the development of independent thinking and organizational abilities in children.
Individual children have their own interests and leadership styles, however, and may not show leadership qualities in every context. Experts emphasize that learning to be an effective leader also means learning when to be a good follower. Knowing this distinction is an important step toward adulthood. The functions of leadership are many and varied, depending upon the basic problem with a group must deal with, and the type of leadership style in action, which is dependent on the leaders basis of power.
Power, in the case of leadership, is divided into six categories; however, each can be linked with another, as they are inter-related. Expert and Informational power are concerned with skills, knowledge and information, of which the holders of such abilities, are able to utilize, to influence others ie technicians and computer personnel. Reward and Coercive power, differ from the previously mentioned, as they involve the ability to either reward or punish persons being influenced, in order to gain compliance. Legitimate power, is power, which has been confirmed by the very role structure of the group or organization itself, and is accepted by all as correct and without dispute, such as in the case of the armed forces or the police force. Referent power, on the other hand, involves those being influenced, identifying with the leader, ie. Rock or film personalities using their image to enter the political arena.
Most leaders make use of a combination of these six types of power, depending on the leadership style used. Authoritarian leaders, for example, use a mixture of legitimate, coercive and reward powers, to dictate the policies, plans and activities of a group. In comparison, a democratic or participative leader would use mainly referent power, involving all members of the group in the decision-making process. Meta-Analysis In my research I have found that by the use of meta-analysis uncovers an approach beyond the general focus of theories of leadership. However within the central study of the term theory, I explore this article to expand this essay in more detail. According to Hunter and Hirsh (1987), most discoveries and advances in cumulative knowledge are no longer being made by those who conduct primary research studies, but by those who use meta-analysis to uncover the latent meaning of existing literature.
In addition, meta-analysis provides the empirical building blocks for theory since results derived from such analyses indicate what needs to be explained by theory. Although meta-analysis has been criticized for not directly generating theory (Guzzo, Jackson &mKatzell, 1987), the results of meta-analyses are indispensable for theory construction, keeping in mind that theory development is a creative process distinct from cumulating results across studies. Nevertheless, there is no reason that meta-analysis cannot deal with theory and explanation as well as with description. In fact, efforts sponsored by the Russell Sage Foundations meta-analysis project are designed to move meta-analytic techniques beyond the descriptive into the theory development domain (Russell Sage Foundation, 1991). Leadership itself, has been accompanied throughout time, by numerous theories, all claiming to answer the question, Are leaders born or made? Those who accept the verdict, that leaders are born and not made, maintain, ...
that there are certain inborn qualities such as initiative, courage, intelligence and humour, which altogether pre-destine a man to be a leader... the essential pattern is given at birth (Adler, 1991, p. 4) Two leadership theories which concentrate on this point, are the Great man / great woman and the Trait theories. The great man / great woman theory, accordingly to Wrightsman, involves its followers believing that those persons in power, both nationally and internationally, influence major events. A sudden act by a great man could, according to this theory, change the fate of the nation. (Wrightsman, 1977, p. 638) The trait theory expands further on this conjecture, by concentrating on the personal characteristics of the leader. The theory, which until the mid- 1940 s formed the basis of most leadership research, cited traits believed to be characteristic of leaders, the list of which grew in length over the years, to include all manner of physical, personality and cognitive factors, including height, intelligence and communication skills. However, few traits emerged to conclusively differentiate leaders from non-leaders.
The traits an individual has may, increase the probability that a person will become a leader, though whether such leadership is guaranteed, is uncertain. Nevertheless, it can be seen to be true that some people are more likely than others to assume leadership positions. The research on trait theories of leadership has shown that many other factors are important in determining leader success, and that not everyone who possesses these traits will be a leader (Adler, 1991, p. 267) As interest in the trait approach to leadership declined, researchers focused their attention on the leaders actions rather than their attributes, which led to the emergence of the behaviorist theories. The most widely publicized exponent of this approach was Robert Blake and Jane Mouton's Managerial Grid, which attempted to explain that there was one best style of leadership, by various combinations of two factors regarding a concern for production and people.
Due to the disillusionment with the fore-mentioned trait theory, the situational approach suggested that the traits required of a leader differed, according to varying situations. The situational approach, which predominated in the 1950 s, held that whether a given person became a leader of a group, had nothing to do with his / her personality, but had everything to do with such factors...
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Research essay sample on Meta Analysis Leadership Style
